Flying frets in the Gibraltar Room
| Events |
By LeRae Haynes
Bluegrass musicians from across North America played last night to an enthusiastic audience in the Gibraltar Room, an annual celebration of acoustic music to end the 108 Cabin Fever Bluegrass Workshop. The musicians had all just come from the 108 Hills, where they spent their time at the workshop inspiring and instructing members of the next generations of bluegrass players and singers.
This is a much-anticipated concert that brings acoustic music lovers out of the woodwork to hear some of the best bluegrass musicians in the world. There were new faces and old favourites on stage, as the performers brought traditional pieces to life and introduced fresh new versions and their own original pieces.
The annual concert is sponsored by the Hub Bluegrass Club and organized by Rossetta Paxton. Her hard work, exceptional culinary abilities and dedication were mentioned by every group who took the stage last night---they all took the opportunity to say thank you to Rossetta.
Megan Lynch took the stage first and charmed the audience with her humor, strong vocals and fiddle playing. She did a version of ‘Wish I Was Single’, followed by a hauntingly beautiful tune written by a nurse during WWI and recently put to music, as well as engaging versions of ‘Let Them in, Peter’ and ‘Pallet on the Floor.’
Chris and Sally Jones and Ivan Rosenberg were on stage next, leading off with a tune from Chris’ new CD, ‘I’d Rather Love You.’ Both Sally and Chris did vocal leads and played acoustic guitar, with Ivan doing back up vocals and perfect fills and leads on dobro. The group welcomed a special performer to the stage to sing ‘Little Cabin Home’---Sally and Chris’ young daughter Joanna.
“This world-travelling band is responsible for bringing bluegrass music into schools in the US,” Rossetta said when she introduced the next band, ‘Special Consensus’. The group played mandolin, stand-up bass, acoustic guitar and 5-string banjo, and sang characteristically fine-tuned, close-knit four-part vocal harmonies.
The musicians in Special Consensus hail from Kansas, Alabama, Nova Scotia and Chicago. They started their set with a rollicking Irving tune called ‘Blue Skies’, with a bouncing swing beat. Their set featured traditional bluegrass lead changes between the musicians---intricate, choreographed moves reflecting the impeccably polite playing style of really good bluegrass musicians.
They were followed by the ‘Bluegrass Orphans’ and the final act of the night—Toronto’s ‘Foggy Hogtown Boys.’
The Hogtown Boys delighted the crowd with songs like ‘Saving the Next Dance for You’, ‘Devil’s Train’ by Hank Williams and ‘Scotch and Sofa’.
Bluegrass music is story-telling music, and the lyrics can be very detailed and precise. The lyrics tell about things like unrequited affection, graveside practices and the occasional tale of unfortunate demise resulting from the faulty use of a farm implement.
The delightful irony, which is sometimes mentioned at length by bluegrass musicians themselves, is that these mournful lyrics are sung to extremely cheerful and lively instrumental accompaniment. The human spirit triumphs when a tale of imprisonment and domestic mishap is joyfully surrounded by lilting banjo riffs.
The musicians last night sang about gambling, terminal illness, sleeping with a gun under your pillow, trouble with the law, trouble in the kitchen, deathbed declarations, mistaken identities and the dangers of riding on a train driven by an intoxicated engineer.
Thanks to the Hub Bluegrass Club, residents throughout the Cariboo and beyond can look forward to the next 108 Cabin Fever Bluegrass Workshop instructor’s concert in March 2011.
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